The occasion was the VII Annual Golden Oldies Senior Classic Hockey Tournament in Parksville. There they were - two teams consisting of three full lines of hockey players playing in the 75 years and over Division. And it wasn’t a case of teaching ‘Old Dogs New Tricks’. These fellows were capable of teaching a few of us more than a few tricks.

There is no doubt that they are moving a little more slowly, and with a tad more caution, but their minds are still active and their muscles have tone. They are continually trying to outsmart, outplay and dance around their aging opponents. It was heads up play all the way. The goaltenders had to be in top form to keep the puck out of the net.

The excitement in the stands was palatable when the likes of Eddie Taylor (now of |Nanaimo; former Flin Flon Bomber) would feed a long two line pass to Jimmy Smith (of Parksville) all alone at Centre Ice and heading North! More excitement when Gordie Wood (Courtney/Comox) would fire the puck around the boards to Peter Kucey (Peter Puck and Mr PGOSA of Parksville) so he could unload one of his famous ‘Howitzers’ on the poor opposing net-minder.

It is always a pleasure to see seniors remaining active in competitive sport, and it is a particular pleasure to see gentle men of these ages and of this calibre continuing to play our national game well into their eighth decade. These players play regularly at their home arenas and travel extensively throughout the province to play in senior tournaments. Many of these self same gentle men will be participating in the Harvest Hockey Jamboree in Vernon from the 1st to the 4th of October at the Multiplex.

 Enough of the words. If a picture speaks but thousands the pictures accompanying this article say it all!
For more information about the Parksville Golden Oldies Sports Assn (PGOSA)
to see how a seniors club should be organized go to http://www.island.net/~pgosa

2007 October  Jerry Flaman   This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it